


Sadie Hawkins

by snowzone5



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Mileven, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-08-20 16:47:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20231101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowzone5/pseuds/snowzone5
Summary: Mike likes Max. El likes Mike. Max likes Lucas. Max likes Dustin. Mike hopes Max will ask him to the Sadie Hawkins. She has no interest in Mike at all.





	1. The Five Sided Triangle

“HEY… ASSHOLE!”

Max was furious, she stood at the lunch room door and yelled. It was probably going to get her sent to the principal’s office, but she really didn’t give a shit.

Everyone looked up at her from their lunch.

Lucas smiled inwardly to himself. He didn’t want Mike to see. Mike had a crush on Max. But Lucas was sure he was in love with the pretty redhead. He couldn’t let either one of them know.

Mike was grinning, wondering who Max tirade was aimed at. Poor bastard, he thought. That person was about to get an earful.

“OK, GOOD TO KNOW YOU ARE ALL ASSHOLES, I FIGURED MOST OF YOU WERE.” Max continued yelling.

“BUT I’M LOOKING FOR THE ASSHOLE CALLED MIKE WHEELER.” She was playing this up, she knew that Mike was sitting at the Party table.

The grin disappeared off MIke’s face. Oh, shit, he was in trouble. What did he do? He didn’t want Max to be pissed off at him. He kind of liked her and didn’t want her mad at him. Way too late now...

Lucas sat there stone faced. Shit. Mike was about to be one unhappy boy. When you got on Max’s shitlist you stayed on there for awhile. It had taken Max almost a year before she’d stopped calling him Stalker with  _ that _ tone of voice, and it now sounded more like a term of endearment… well, maybe not quite, but closer. He sighed. Yeah, he really was in love with her. Young for this feeling, he knew, but he couldn’t help it. Every time looked at her he felt goofy and useless.

Here it comes, Mike thought as Max walked towards the Party table. The lunch room giggled, partly out of humour, mostly out of sympathy for Mike. The worst part, was this girl, the one who made his heart skip a beat, was coming over to their table would absolutely  _ not _ lower her voice once she sat down in front of him. It would stay at the same lunchroom head turning level. It was only when she lowered her voice, when her murderous ire was irradiating his very soul would he know how pissed she really was.

Max was at the door, doing exactly what her best friend said she was going to do, and El Hopper was cringing behind her when she heard her call Mike an… a bad name. She knew why. She saw Mike’s beautiful smile disappear and her heart cried out for him.

Mike barely knew she was alive. Still. She thought that after their date, and  _ did _ think of it as a date. She thought he might like her a little. It was obvious he had had a crush on Max.

She felt sorry for Lucas, who had a genuine crush on Max but could do nothing about it, sitting beside his best friend, Mike Wheeler, arguably the most popular kid in school because he played guitar on stage last year at the Snowball.

And then she felt sorry for Max. Max didn’t like Mike at all. She kind of liked Lucas, but maybe Dustin, she waffled back and forth on the both of them. El really wished Max would make her mind. Dustin almost had a girlfriend now with Stacey, but Max kept kept catching his eye.

The whole thing was a mess. Through all of it, she watched Mike’s every move, every facial expression. Her heart did all sorts of funny things when she saw him or was anywhere near him. She couldn’t breathe properly. Her throat was dry she wouldn’t even be able to return a “hello” if he ever said it to her.

Nobody noticed her as she walked towards the Party table. She wasn’t officially a member. Not like Max was. Max had been accepted immediately by Mike. Lucas, Dustin, and even Will hadn’t questioned Mike’s decision.

But not of them had asked El to be in the party. She _ knew _ she could be their mage. If they only knew, but of course, that would never happen. Even Max as her best friend didn’t know. Only Dr. Owen and her dad.

Mike looked up to see her sit down silently. He had an odd look on his face, but El thought he was just steeling himself for the onslaught that was Max Mayfield.

“Hi, Lucas, hello Will, hi Dustin.” Max greeted the Party, each in turn. Everybody could hear Max. If she had dropped a pin they would have heard that too.

She turned her head to look directly into Mike’s eyes. “Hello, you stupid piece of shit.”

Both Mike and Lucas looked down. Both were having a hard time meeting Max’s eyes.

El looked back and forth between them. Max was doing this for her, she knew. But she was letting Mike have it. Both barrels as they said in the movies.

“Quite a performance you put on Friday night. Tell me, do you actually  _ practise _ being a piece of shit? Or does it just come naturally?”

Max put her finger to her chin and her eyes looked up as if she was trying to decide which. “Don’t answer, I already know. Being a piece of shit comes naturally, doesn’t it Wheeler?”

Max looked around the room, “Which one of you asshole’s is  _ also _ this piece of shit’s friend.” Hands went up but everyone was tentative about being associated with the target of Max’s diatribe.

“It’’s ok, you can put your hands up...” All the hands went up.

“Because this piece of shit only really has one friend. His mirror.”

Lucas watched as Max leaned in and lowered her voice. Here it comes. Poor Mike.

“Instead of calling it The Party, why not call it ‘The Party of One’. or just ‘The Mike’. ‘Cause it’s really only about you isn’t it?”

Mike tried to fire back, “What did I do,  _ Maxine.” _

Max slapped him hard across the face, it sounded like a gunshot echoing around the room. El put her hand on Max’s arm, “Max, please.”

Max wasn’t a bully, as a matter of fact she’d actually beaten up Troy the former school bully last year. She had beaten him up enough to put him in the hospital. He’d called El a weirdo with her hair, and ended up with a broken arm, a broken jaw and some missing teeth.

Mike got away with a split lip.

“Are you  _ shitting _ me you piece of shit?” She said loudly, and then back to deadly quiet.

“I think if I told you it would just bounce off that shiny perfect reflection of a real human being you really are. Ok, that not fair. I’m too generous. It would get stuck on the clean side of the turd you are. Would never get to where it needs to go.”

Her voice got even more quiet, it was almost a whisper, “If you  _ ever _ do anything like that to El again. You will have an accident where one of your knees gets broken.”

“Do I make myself clear?”

“Yeah, sure,  _ Maxine.”  _ Mike half grinned, half rolled his eyes.

“I SAID, YOU. FUCKING. PIECE. OF. SHIT.” The whole lunchroom was staring at them.

Now her whisper was menacing, “are we clear?”

Something about the tone of her voice really threw Mike off. 

She was serious.

Two things became clear instantly to Mike at that point. There was no waiting around for Max. She was not only not interested, now or in the future. But she was  _ never _ interested. So _not_ interested that he knew she had an intense dislike for him. More now.

Another thing that was crystal clear. Well, it seemed clear. He began to think that El Hopper liked him. She was so quiet and unassuming he hadn’t taken a second look at her. Not even last Friday night.

But...

But… when she came over to the table and their eyes had made contact, Mike saw just how pretty they were. His heart did this little jumpy thing that he wasn’t expecting. 

And now Max was letting him know in no uncertain terms what she thought. She was standing up for her best friend. El was completely innocent in this, she looked so vulnerable that Mike wanted to go over and hug her. Tell her he was sorry. He knew what this was all about now.

He had taken too long to answer Max.

She cupped her ears, and leaned forward, her face was no more than an inch from his, and her voice was barely audible. “I said.”

Now it was loud enough to reach the principal’s office. She screamed.

“ARE. WE. FUCKING. CLEAR?”


	2. Six Months Ago

Suddenly, Mike was the most popular person at Hawkins Middle.

He didn’t start out that way. He knew he wasn’t going to be popular, he was a nerd, came with the territory. But he wasn’t expected to be beaten up the first day, by some mouthbreather named Troy.

He’d really gotten his bell rung. He was a little dizzy, suddenly Troy’s weight was off him and he could hear the sounds of a scuffle out of his view. A shadow blocked out the sun and he heard a quiet voice saying, “are you ok?” 

A few feet behind him he heard the sound of… a girl? “Picked the wrong school to be a bully in  _ didn’t _ you asshole!”

Feet running away, and then, “is he ok? That asshole really hit him with a haymaker.”

And then as his vision cleared she came into view. A girl with the most beautiful red hair he’d ever seen. She held out her hand and helped him up.

“The name is Max, and you’re welcome.” She turned and left with her short haired friend. Mike couldn’t really tell if it was a guy or a girl.

XXXXX

“El, honey. It’s time to get up, first day of school today.”

El knew the word. Petulant. She was being petulant. Her dad had made her learn it for her word of the day a week ago. She turned over and said. “No.”

“Ok, well you can stay home, and we’ll continue with the lessons, and you won’t get to see any of your friends at school.”

She sighed. “I only have one friend, Max, and you don’t even like her.”

“I didn’t say I didn’t like her, but Max is a little rough around the edges. I’m not sure she’s a good influence on you.”

“She protects me… because you won’t let me protect myself.”

“Hey, we talked about this. You  _ know _ you can’t.”

“I know.” El felt petulant again. She liked the word, fit her perfectly right now. “It’s not safe, and I’m not stupid.”

Hopper sighed.

“Would a big Eggo extravaganza at Benny’s after school help?”

El couldn’t help herself, she broke out into a big grin. She knew her dad liked when she smiled that way. It always made him hesitate before he said anything else.

Hopper cleared his throat. “Ok. it’s a date then.” He gave her his goofiest grin and her smile got wider. He had to turn around and clear his throat again.

She was looking forward to her first day in school, everybody said she was ready, and even though she only really knew Max, she was looking forward to making new friends.

But when the her dad’s truck pulled up to the school parking lot, she was terrified. There were so many people! She looked at her dad, her bottom lip trembled.

“It’s ok honey, you don’t have to talk to them all, there’ll only be a small group of people you hang around with every day.”

“You are smart, and you are pretty. You’ve already got all the bases covered for your first day at school.”

She leaned forward and kissed his cheek, “I’ll see you for Eggos after school?”

“Yes you will.” She hopped out of the truck and ran towards the bike rack where Max was.

Hopper put the truck in gear, he wanted to turn it around as quickly as he could so El couldn’t see the tears in his eyes. He loved his girl so much he thought he was feeling chest pains.

XXXXX

Max introduced her to Will, Dustin, and Lucas. She sounded different when she said Luca’s name and he just grinned at Lucas and shook El’s hand. But she was waiting for the  _ other _ introduction. To see  _ him _ again. Without the bloody nose, or the bruises

A few minutes later Max introduced El to Mike. Easily the cutest boy in the universe. Not cute really. Super cute was more like it. He looked smart in his sweater. And cute. Super Cute Mike Wheeler. 

Mike didn’t shake her hand, he only looked at Max. He didn’t even say, “Nice to meet you.” He didn’t even  _ look _ at her.

Will put his hand on her should and leaned into whisper, “he has crush on Max.”

El’s First Day of School Balloon instantly fizzled in a wet disgusting sound until it lay drooping in dog poop. Why wouldn’t he even look at her? Was she that ugly?

The instant she formed that thought her hand went to her buzzed hair. Over a year later and it  _ still _ hadn’t grown. 

No boy was ever going to look at her.

And now she had a new word to spend the day as. Sullen.

XXXXX

Mike had spent a week trying to impress Max. He didn’t know what to do. She was better than he was on a skateboard. Rumour had it she could actually drive a car. She was strong, she’d already beaten Troy up and now he avoided the group completely. She didn’t like nerdy things so there was no impressing her with his knowledge of D&D. And Dustin knew more about the game than he did anyway. She wasn’t into  _ Star Wars _ , or _ Lord of the Rings _ . 

His best friend Will, wasn’t having any luck with Max’s friend either. He found out that her name was El. Spelled E-L. That was weird in itself, she was Chief Hopper’s adopted daughter, so Will was going to have to walk on eggshells around her. She was nice enough to Will, well, she was enough to everyone, especially towards him. 

He didn’t really know what Will saw in her, that hair. He didn’t want to offend her by asking about it, but he could see that she ran her hand over her head a lot, obviously it made her self conscious. Mike felt a little bit sorry for her. He didn’t understand why Will didn’t ask her out.

The Snowball that year was a bit of a drag. The whole party went, but they didn’t dance. There was no DJ this year but a live band. And they sucked. In truth it was just the guitar player who sucked. The word had gotten around that he was completely tanked, so it was no wonder he couldn’t remember how to play any of the songs.

He passed out on stage, and fell face forward off of it. Mike couldn’t figure out why he hadn’t broken his neck. His guitar was broken all to shit, but not the guys neck.

The singer of the band asked if anybody could play the songs on a guitar, Dustin and Will put up their hands and pointed to Mike.

Mike could easily fake playing if he had to, but he knew how to play all the songs anyway. He’d never been on stage before, so he was nervous, but the singer told him they key they’d play in, and asked if he wanted to do any solo’s.

Mike breezed through all the songs, but he was sweating like a pig in his suit. The singer pointed to him and Mike did his best through a few hair band solo’s, and everyone in the gym stopped what they were doing to watch him.

And so did Max. So he put on a show.

Suddenly, Mike was the most popular person at Hawkins Middle. It didn’t go away. It carried on for six months.

But Max still wasn’t impressed  _ or _ interested in him.


	3. Two Weeks Ago

Dustin and Mike sat at the party table.

“Have you heard the news?” Dustin said.

“”What news?”

“Hawkin’s Middle is holding a Sadie Hawkins dance in two weeks.”

“What’s a Sadie Hawkins dance. Named after the town?” Mike said.

Dustin rolled his eyes, “Uh, ok, let me explain… It’s a dance where the girls ask the guys to go with them to the dance. Considered a bad idea to refuse, It’s like the  _ Safety Dance _ .”

“That’s not what the  _ Safety Dance _ is about, it’s just what people think it’s about now.” Mike explained.

“Whatever, it’s considered a bad idea to refuse.”

“Maybe Max will ask me to it?”

“Uh, no. She asked Lucas a week ago… you know Lucas has a crush on her right?”

Mike looked down, “yeah, I thought he might. He’s too nice a guy to tell me.”

“Stacey asked me, Jennifer Hayes asked Will. You’re the only one left. I figured you were so popular you had to refuse all the offers after the first girl that asked.”

“Uh, nobody has asked me yet.”

“Seriously? What’s up with that… Our table, “ Dustin looked around to confirm, “is surrounded by all girls at every table. How have you not been asked yet?”

Mike shrugged. “I never felt popular, that guitar thing was my only claim to fame, for whatever that was worth.”

Dustin looked down at the table and said nonchalantly, “Maybe El will ask you?”

“Girls that pretty don’t give me the time of day. If Max doesn’t like me, she’s already influenced El.”

“Have you seen the way she looks at you?”

“I’m telling you Dustin, El doesn’t like me like that.”

“Are you seriously this dense?”

Mike shrugged.

“Gotta go, Stacey catching my attention… see ya later.”

Mike sat at the party table by himself. He pulled out a book he was reading. He felt the table shift slightly. El sat down, not quite across from him.

“Hi.”

Mike nodded. Not looking up.

El thought. This is it. I’m going to ask him. “Sooooo, are you going to the Sadie Hawkins dance?”

“Doesn’t look like it.” Mike said, still not looking up.

“No? Does that mean nobody has asked you yet?” El could not believe nobody had asked him. With his eyes, and his smile how could they resist?

“I’m one of the last few people to know, the fact that nobody has asked me yet, means I’m probably not going. I thought Max might ask me, but that was wishful thinking. She likes Lucas, and I’m sure Lucas has a crush on her… all the signs are there.”

“She doesn’t like you Mike, I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news.”

“She doesn’t like me at all?” For the first time Mike looked up at her and was… shocked? He wasn’t expecting her to be that pretty, he’d seen her almost everyday, it’s not like he didn’t know what she looked like. But today… he couldn’t even look into her eyes… this was weird.

“No Mike. Look at the bright side, this table is surrounded by girls who want to be seen with you.” She was trying to be supportive for Mike.

Mike snorted. “That’s what Dustin said… being ‘popular’, ” Mike air quoted when he said that. “Is not all it’s made out to be. Since that whole guitar thing. You know who which girls have said more than three words to me for the last six months?”

El shrugged.

“You. You are always nice to me You always say hi and talk to me. I know Max doesn’t like me.” 

He sighed. “New year, same problem.”

Mike smiled at her, and El felt the butterflies, and then she forgot her name when he smiled at her and said, “If you want to take me to the Sadie Hawkins dance, then we have a date.”

She thinks Mike said, “I have to go now.” But she was caught up in the moment.

She had just sort of asked the cutest boy in school to the dance and he said, “Yes!” He even called it a date. How am I going to sleep over the next two weeks?

That was easy because Mike didn’t talk to her until the Friday of the dance. 

El had been getting worried but at lunch he waited till the whole Party was at the table and then asked her.

“So El, is the date still on for tonight? You’re taking me to the dance?”

El felt so light she thought she would float away and wander around aimlessly just below the ceilings of the school.

Max just rolled her eyes, and did an ok job of hiding her smile. Her best friend was going on a date.

Mike saw the dreamy smile El gave him. If anything it made her prettier than she was already. He had just made a pretty girl smile. 

Life was good.

XXXXX

El spent a long time on her dress, she even wore a little makeup which her dad said she didn’t need, but all dad’s probably said that so she went with a little anyway.

“El, I’m going to the station, so if you need anything, a ride, pizza, or you want me to punch out your date, you only need to call.”

“Daaaad!”

“Ok I won’t punch him out… if he treats you right.”

Hopper drove to the school, thinking about his little girl. She was growing up fast, she was going to be a smart young woman in a few years. She wouldn’t be taking any shit from anybody. Who am I kidding? She doesn’t take any shit now, not even from me.

She kissed his daughter's head, “Have a good time, remember I’m a phone call away.” He waited until she was inside the school gymnasium doors where he could see the various teachers about.

El stood in lobby, waiting for Mike. She had the tickets that she would present to Mr. Clarke to get into the dance.

He heard the muted sounds of a slow song. One she could dance to with Mike. 

She waited for him. A few faster songs played, and then another slow song. She waited for him. After fifteen minutes, she was beginning to think he had stood her up. More and more people were showing up. They looked at her standing by herself as they went by.

After thirty minutes, she was sure he’d stood her up. She watched the last few couples streaming by her to get to the gym. They looked at her too, as they went by.

After forty-five minutes she was almost in tears and ready to call her dad, but then she could see Mike pedaling furiously on his bike.

He parked it quickly on the bike stand and threw open the doors, panting.

“Sorry El, I didn’t know I wasn’t getting a ride. My fault. I forgot to tell my parents that I needed one. My dad had to go out of town and my Mom went out. I’m not used to going out on a date. I didn’t plan for it very well.”

El didn’t know if it was the inflection of his voice, or that he was rushing to finish what he said through deep breaths, but he didn’t sound like he was telling the truth.

El tried to calm down but a feeling of foreboding was creeping up on her. Did he not care enough to make even the simplest arrangements for a ride? 

El gave Mr. Clarke the tickets, he looked at Mike and he gave her a small wink. She didn’t feel like smiling back a thank you, but she did anyway.

The found the table where Lucas and Max where. Max gave Mike a glare.

A slow song started, and Max pulled Lucas up to dance.

Mike said, “I suppose we might as well get this over with, let’s go dance.”

El was appalled. Get it over with? This wasn’t going to work, no matter how much she wanted it to.

“You know what Mike? Don’t embarrass yourself by dancing with me. The last hour hasn’t been a date, it’s been a humi… a humiliation. ”

“El, I only meant…”

She held out her hand, “stop talking. We’re done here.  _ I’m _ done here.” She walked towards the lobby to call her dad.

XXXXX

Hopper picked up his desk phone. He couldn‘t understand what the person on the other end was saying through the blubbering, but he knew it was El and that he had to go get her.

“I’ll be there in 30 seconds.”

That was exactly how long it took him to get to the front doors of the school.

As soon as she saw him, her face contorted in the most beautiful way possible as she burst into tears again. She held out her arms and he ran to her and picked up her up. “I’ve got you, we’re going home.”

Once they were home, Hopper put on some slow dance music, and held her close, her arms around his his middle, her cheeks stained with tears making his shirt wet.

He danced with her until she fell asleep and he tucked her into bed, while she was still wearing her dress.


	4. Where Things Are Hollow

As Mike was recovering from the sting of the slap a number of things went through his mind. First and foremost, he was glad Max hadn’t punched him, she put a lot of energy behind that slap.It was enough to turn his head… and when he did, he noticed for the first time in six months that the Party table was not surrounded by girls.

When he thought about that he realized that girls hadn’t been looking at him with same gushiness as they had previously. It looked like his fifteen minutes of  _ fame _ , such as it was, had ended.

He had a hard time figuring out what he saw in Max. She was never his type so what was  _ that _ about? Get right down to it, El was more of his type. And it looked like that door was now closed.

He felt a little guilty lying to El about why he was late. The truth was that his mom had already gone out, and his dad had just gone to bed. Would she have even believed him if he’d said his dad was a total wasteoid? It would have just sounded like an excuse. So he had biked like a madman to get to the dance. When he was putting on his suit he saw that he was never going to make it on time.

When he’d seen El standing all alone in the lobby of the school, he felt sorry for her. She’d probably thought he’d stood her up. He wouldn’t have done that of course, but she didn’t know that. 

The last two things that that went through his mind as the initial shock of the sting faded was that he actually kind of liked El. She was quiet and unassuming. She was always nice to him. Maybe she liked him? He thought that maybe they could be friends. Maybe good friends. Maybe more? He was sure Max wasn’t helping there.

Still, that wasn’t enough for Max to slap him like that. The only other thing he could think of was that he told El he wanted to get the first dance over with because….

Ahh. _That_ was it. He never got to finish what he was going to say. Shit.

Mike formed a plan. He was good at plotting. The whole Party said so, which is why he made a great Dungeon Master.

He needed to convince three people to help him with his plan. One was going to be easy, and he was right. The second took a phone call and honesty… and it felt  _ good  _ to make the call.

The third was Max. He knew she would be a tough sell. He went to her locker after lunch.

She looked at him and he got the glare he’d been expecting. “You have five seconds before I punch you in the face.”

“Give me thirty seconds, if what I have to say doesn’t work for you, go ahead and punch me. Um, Max, I need your help.”

Max smirked, “Ok, out with it, I want to wash the blood off my hands before next class.”

Mike explained what he wanted to do and the part of the plan he’d already put in motion.

A remarkable change came over Max’s face as he explained. She didn’t have any smartass quiips ready to go, instead she smiled at him.

“Ok, Mike, I’ll help you with that.  _ That’s _ the  _ Mike _ Lucas told me about.”

XXXXX

El hadn’t seen Mike the whole week after Max had slapped him. She knew that Max was doing her best to keep her away from them being in the same room. She missed looking at him. It was always the hi-light of her day, getting to see him and talk to him. The Sadie Hawkins dance had put a bit of a damper on that. She would feel that bite for some time.

She had been fantasizing about holding his hand, even if it was just for the dance. To do that walking down the school hall felt like an impossible dream.

She had also been fantasizing about kissing him. It might have been a possibility at the dance, Max said it happened all the time. Kissing Mike before quickly going into a class caused such a storm of butterflies in her stomach she’d felt a little nauseated. Walking out on him had ruined all those possibilities. She felt like she was destined to be alone. Again.

Max caught her just before school was out. “El can you help me tonight?”

“Sure Max, what’s up?”

“Coach told me I needed to practice my layups for the team.”

“Max, you know I’m no good at basketball…”

“I just need you to pass me a new ball so I don’t have to run around getting them.”

El smiled, “I can do that. Tonight?”

“Yeah, gymnasium is busy till six thirty, so I can meet you in the lobby around seven?

“I’ll get my dad to drop me off.”

“Thanks, El. It’ll be boring, but you’ll be doing me a big favour.”

“Anything for a friend, Max. You know that.”

“Yes, I’d do anything for a friend too.” Max smiled at her and waved bye.

XXXXX

For the second time in the space of a week, El was standing in line waiting.

Max was only two minutes late, and El felt relieved to have a friend with her in the darkened lobby.

“Max, all the doors are going to be locked. Especially gym with all that sports equipment.”

Max dangled keys in front of her face. “I asked Mr. Clarke for keys. I’m not sure he was allowed to give them to me, but he did. It’s for a good reason.” Max told a bit of a lie, but it  _ was _ for a good reason.

They walked to the gym doors, and Max said, “after you”

El walked in, her heart started beating harder when she walked into total darkness. The door closed behind her and a single gym spotlight went on in the center of the room.

Standing in the spotlight was Mike. She hurried over to him, wanted to get out of the shadows. She couldn’t see her feet as was unsure of her footing, but the butterflies lifted her towards him.

“What’s going on Mike.”

“I was afraid of being clumsy and stepping all over your toes. That’s why I wanted to get that first dance over with. I really  _ did _ want to dance with you El. I still do. This is not the Sadie Hawkins dance, but this is where we would have danced… so… ,“ he held out his hand.

“Would you like to have this dance with me?”

El looked at him wide-eyed… To stop from crying she whispered in the quiet gym, “there’s no music Mike.”

“Well we could pretend… or…,” he turned around, El heard a click and  _ The Flying Lizards _ version of  _ Only You _ played.

She put her hands behind Mike’s neck and he put his hands on her waist. “I’m still scared of stepping on your feet El.. I can’t dance.”

“Don’t lift them Mike, just shuffle, you can’t step on my toes that way.”

Mike’s beautiful smile made her woozy… “That’s a great tip El. Wish I’d known that a week ago.”

“You need to ask girls these things. There’s a joke that high heels were invented because a girl kept getting kissed on the forehead.”

The song was winding down. El sighed. “Can you replay that song so we can dance longer.”

“We’re covered El. I made a mix tape of slow songs.”

The next song started and they danced a little closer. 

And they talked. They talked about school, they talked about how lonely each of them felt that first day in Hawkins, and how alone they were the first day in school a few years ago. The laughed at some things each of them had said. They talked about their dreams. They talked about their friends. They mostly talked about how alone they were. They talked about their parents. 

They talked.

El now understood the reason for Mike’s late arrival last Friday. Her heart went out to him. Mike’s dad was no where near the parent that her dad was. Then her eyes got wide again.

“I wish I could dance with you all night, Mike, but I’m going to have to leave to go home. I’m already gone longer than I told him I would be.”

“Do you really want to dance with me all night?” Mike asked looking into her eyes.

She looked at him, hesitated for a second, then nodded.

“Done.”

“But Mike.” He stopped her talking by leaning in and kissing her. Now she couldn’t talk because she had no breath.

Mike’s face got a bit blurry as tears welled up into her eyes.

“I’ve never danced with a girl before, never took one to a dance. But I heard that you were supposed to kiss her at least once. I have  _ hours _ of slow dance songs. And I already cleared it with your dad. 

Dual tears dropped from her eyes.

“Let me make it up to you El.”

She nodded, and they continued dancing.

“Um, El. Uh, do you want to have a standing date?”

“A standing date?" She looked down at where they were standing. " What do you mean?”

“Any dances that come up, or any school events, or anything the Party does… you are automatically my date… if, you know, you want to be.”

She looked up at him, “isn’t that … that… entitle… entitlement reserved for girlfriends?”

Mike frowned… and sighed…, “yeah, you’re probably right, I wouldn’t want to stop you from going to a dance with someone else.” He looked so disappointed that El wanted to reassure him right away.

“Unless… unless you want me to be your girlfriend?” El couldn’t believe she’d just said that.

Mike didn’t hesitate. Not even for a split second. 

“Yes.” And he kissed her again lingering for a few seconds.

“I’m tired of being lonely.”

“Me too.”

She put he head on his shoulder and they continued dancing.

XXXXX

It was 3:30 in the morning. 

Hopper was quiet as he eased open the door to the gymnasium, he heard the low sound of music. 

He peeked in, his daughter’s head was on a a dark haired boy’s shoulder, the smile on her face, her eyes closed, slowly swaying to the music. The Wheeler kid had kept his word. He’d never seen her look so happy.

She was going to be surprised when he told her he didn’t need to meet her boyfriend. Anybody who treated his daughter like this was going to be hard to find, and she’d gotten lucky and found him already.

He backed out and went home. She would phone when she was ready.

XXXXX

“I’m never going to forget this Mike. Thank you.”

Mike smiled. “The would never let us dance this long at the Sadie Hawkins dance.”

“Or kiss this much.” El giggled.

“Yeah, or that. Um, you’re my first kiss El. I hope I did it right.”

“You were perfect Mike, you were mine too.”

“Do you want go to my place to get some breakfast?”

“Eggos?”

“Mom? My girlfriend will have an order of Eggos, please.” El giggle again.

They walked out of the gym.

Mike was holding his boombox in one hand and his girlfriend’s hand in another.


End file.
